What Goes Around
by stingrae90
Summary: Sometimes, defending your family has negative consequences. And sometimes, they come back to bite your descendents in the...well, it's not pretty. Sequel to Letters from the Past
1. Sowing Seeds

A/N: This is the sequel to _Letters from the Past_ and it will probably make more sense if you go read that one before this, but it isn't required. Just highly encouraged. ;) For anyone wondering why this starts out when it does, stay tuned! All will be explained as we progress through the story.

--

Chapter 1: Sowing Seeds

--

_Eight years after the Avatar disappeared_

The wind drifted peacefully over the field, rustling leaves on bushes and a few stray trees as it went. It caused the flaps on the tents grouped near the edge of the field to quiver in their restraints, wanting to fly free. The sun shone gently down on the encampment, bathing everything and everyone in a soft golden light. Scattered clouds drifted across the blue sky, adding to the peaceful scene.

Kuzon, sitting atop an eel-hound, pack firmly tied to the saddle in preparation for this last journey, took a deep breath, and exhaled it in a long sigh.

"Do I really have to go back?"

Bumi glanced over to the young man from his perch on his own eel-hound some ten feet to Kuzon's left. He stifled a grin, somewhat successfully, and attempted to sound sympathetic.

"You really have to, Kuzon. At the very least, your parents deserve to know you didn't get yourself killed with all of your foolish actions these past two years."

"_My_ foolish actions? Just what happened to the crazy Earthbender who goaded me into at _least _half of them? I thought he was around here somewhere…" Kuzon eyed his friend pointedly. Bumi just shrugged cheerfully.

"Not a clue. You'll have to let me meet this Earthbender someday. If he can convince you to do things you don't want to, he's got to be worth meeting."

"Got a high opinion of yourself, I see."

"Oh, _I _talked you into those foolish actions? Surely not me! I would never urge my friend to risk life and limb in an attempt to bloody the collective nose of the Fire Nation!"

"No," Kuzon acknowledged with a wicked grin. "You only encourage friends to risk life and limb if it will break the collective _arm_ of the Fire Nation. And maybe a leg or two."

"Where's the point otherwise?"

"Maybe the point's keeping alive instead of getting killed?"

"All life has a little risk in it!"

"A 'little risk' doesn't include purposely baiting a Fire Nation patrol you _knew_ was looking for an excuse to start a fight."

"Aww…but then I'd never get to see you act like an army officer again, Captain sir!" Bumi grinned unrepentantly. Kuzon glared at his friend.

"Quit calling me 'sir'! I'm not an officer. I'm not even in the military!"

"But it's so-"

"Boys." Kuzon and Bumi jerked around on their respective mounts at the authoritative voice. "I would have thought bickering to be the last thing on your minds today."

The old man who walked up to them was weathered and bent slightly with age. His clear brown eyes were still sharp however, and secrets seemed to lurk just out of sight in their depths. He kept a firm grip on a wooden cane, but both Kuzon and Bumi knew the old man used it more for whacking some sense into young men than for support while walking.

"Master Chen," the young men chorused.

"Kuzon, Bumi." One lone gray brow lifted. "Neither of you answered me."

"Well, you see," Bumi started. "Our bantering and bickering is simply-"

"-the way we deal with unpleasant events," Kuzon finished. They both grinned impishly at the man, who rolled his eyes.

"I think I preferred it when the two of you were brooding and out for revenge. At least then you ganged up on unsuspecting Fire Nation patrols, not on your allies."

Kuzon's smile disappeared as Bumi's became fixed and fake. The Fire Nation young man turned serious. "I don't prefer that. Bumi and I owe you more than we can repay, for helping us out of that mindset."

"We'd have gotten ourselves killed otherwise," Bumi said quietly. "And we'd have broken our promises to Amihan and Aang." He glanced away briefly, before turning back with a grin. "And I never would have gotten so good at my bending without your help, Master Chen."

"Yes, well," Chen huffed, a slight red tinge coloring his face. Kuzon and Bumi both politely declined to notice. "You both had better get moving. You'll get left behind otherwise."

"Not like we haven't made do before," Bumi pointed out. Kuzon snorted.

"Yes, but that was before we got our faces plastered all over Fire Nation wanted posters."

"You mean, after _I _got my face plastered on those wanted posters. _You _were just the hapless loyal, Fire Nation native who got caught up trying to bring enlightenment to his poor, backwards, barbaric Earth Kingdom friend."

Kuzon made a face at Bumi. "I'm well aware of the story we spread, thank you. I don't want to have to repeat it back until I have to. Thanks very much."

"Then keep your mouth shut and your eyes open as you travel, Kuzon, and you won't have to any more than necessary," Chen admonished, and Kuzon nodded. Bumi pouted, but left off teasing his friend. Chen reached into the pocket of his robes, withdrawing two small, circular objects. "This is generally not done with people as young as you, for the obvious reasons. Hot-heads are not welcome to such big secrets." Kuzon and Bumi exchanged embarrassed smiles, remembering their early encounters with the older man standing before them. "However, both of you have proved beyond doubt, that while you both have tempers, no secret of true import can be drawn from you even under extreme duress." Chen tossed a single object to each young man. White flashed in the sunlight as they were caught.

"Is this…" Bumi started, staring at the Pai Sho tile he held.

"You really mean for us to be…" Kuzon attempted, gaze split between the White Lotus on the tile and the old man standing near to his mount.

"Yes. We really mean for you two to be members of the White Lotus. Those tiles will declare your loyalties to those with the proper knowledge. Keep them with you at all times and replace it as quickly as you may if it is lost." A piercing glare informed both boys the tiles had better never be lost before Chen's eyes softened. "Should you ever need help, especially you, Kuzon, do not fear to use that tile. We have allies in all the nations and we are ever growing larger. You will find allies no matter where you go."

"Thank you," Bumi and Kuzon chorused, bowing as well as they could from their mounts. Chen turned a stern glare on both boys.

"Now, get going! Honestly, young men these days. Never a thought for the time of others. Those caravans can't wait forever, you know…" Still grumbling, Chen stalked away. Bumi and Kuzon exchanged amused glances.

"I'm going to miss him," Bumi said, grinning.

"I will too," Kuzon agreed. Bumi took a deep breath and turned his eel-hound towards the south.

"Well, I'll see you when I see you. And it had better not be because I've got to come rescue you from the Boiling Rock!"

Kuzon snorted. "Just make sure the next time I see you it's not to identify the remains of the idiot bender who took on a whole patrol of firebenders by himself."

"Hey, you're the one who did that, not me!" Bumi retorted, eyes shining. Kuzon grinned.

"You're not fireproof."

"Neither are you!"

"But I can control it and keep it from burning me."

"Dodging works just as well, you know."

"Just go, you insane earthbender."

Bumi cackled with glee and kicked his mount into a run, darting in a few circles around Kuzon before stopping facing the south once again. Kuzon simply rolled his eyes at his friend's antics.

"I meant go join your caravan to Omashu," he drawled. Bumi grinned.

"I have to tease you at least once more before we go our own ways," he said cheerfully, before sobering. "Be careful Kuzon."

"I will so long as you will," Kuzon challenged. Bumi nodded sharply and saluted, grinning.

"Yes, sir!" He spurred his mount into a run and started the long journey to catch up to the caravan that would take him to Omashu. Kuzon groaned and yelled after him.

"Quit calling me sir! I'm not an army officer!"

Bumi's response floated back on the wind, accompanied by the sound of cackling laughter. "But you acted like one so well!"

Kuzon shook his head and spurred his own mount towards the east and the ports. He would meet the trading ship that would take him back to his home there, in two days time. "Spirits keep you safe, Bumi," he whispered.

As Kuzon began his journey back to the Fire Nation, he clutched the White Lotus tile close to his chest, feeling hopeful for the first time since his father had told him of Sozin's plan to annihilate the Air Nomads.

--

_A week and a half later, just outside of Kuzon's hometown_

"I'm telling you, he's a traitor!"

"He was a hotheaded kid last he was here, and I've heard nothing of a _peasant_ being declared a traitor," sneered the army captain. The small, wiry Fire Nation man standing before him growled and visibly restrained himself from yelling again. He took a deep breath.

"Captain Yavuz, I'm aware that there is no proof but what I've seen, but I'm telling you the truth! He was friends with the Avatar! He's already suspect."

"There were always Air Nomads darting in and out of the outlying islands, Amin, how would you know if Kuzon ever came into contact with him?" A suspicious glare settled on the shorter man. "Unless you knew the identity of the Avatar before Fire Lord Sozin's attack…"

Amin paled slightly, and then colored in affronted pride. "No! No, I never knew until recently. It was the boy, the one who'd obtained near master level by the time he was eleven. Please I swear…"

"And how would you know enough of their bending training to know when a child of theirs was near mastery?" The suspicion had only increased. Amin couldn't seem to find his voice now, any offended pride quickly receding in disbelief and a little fear at his accusation turning back around on him.

"Captain!" The army officer snorted and turned slightly away from the would-be informer, acknowledging his subordinate's call. "A man matching the description we were given has just sailed in with a merchant ship. We've detained him at the shipping master's office off the docks. Should we bring him to you for questioning?"

"No. I will see to him myself," Captain Yavuz ordered crisply, before turning back to the incredulous Amin. "We shall see how your story holds up. Stay here while I interview the boy. I'll be back to deal with you." With that last comment, part statement, part threat, Yavuz turned on his heel and left the army station.

_Let's see how much you've changed – or not – in the two years you've been gone, boy,_ he thought, absently rubbing at a jagged scar above his left eye, legacy of a fight Kuzon had started almost three years ago now.

--

Kuzon very determinedly kept his hands from straying to the Lotus tile in his pocket as he fidgeted slightly in the Shipping Master's office. This interview was a routine part of the customs check for citizens who'd been traveling for extended periods of time. The army lieutenant had told him that. Even though the lieutenant had been giving him strange looks since Kuzon had gotten off the trading ship. He didn't have any reason to believe he was in trouble, and anyway, he didn't want anyone to know the tile was important to him. They might take it then, and he'd have to buy a whole set of the stupid Pai Sho tiles to get the Lotus again otherwise it'd look suspicious.

"Have I done something wrong, Captain?" he asked politely, hoping fervently this wasn't the same man who had been posted here two years ago. He surreptitiously searched the man's face, and internally winced. Yup. There was the scar over the man's eye, from a fall into a broken stall in a fight Kuzon had instigated.

_Just perfect. I come back and get accosted by a guy with a legitimate grudge against me. Just my luck._

"Where have you been the past two years? Kuzon, isn't it?" the captain asked, the glint in his eye indicating he did indeed remember the young man standing before him. Kuzon shrugged.

"I needed to get my head on straight, sir. And I was only causing trouble for my family by staying while I tried to do that. I left to give them some peace, and since I've gotten my head straight now, I thought it'd be a good idea to come back home and make sure my family wasn't too worried about me."

"Your…issues from two years ago wouldn't have had anything to do with being sympathetic to the Air Nomads, now would it?"

Kuzon kept his face puzzled and allowed only a small hint of the pain he still felt to show on his face. That he'd been friends with at least two Air Nomads was no secret, it'd be more suspicious if he _didn't_ have some sort of negative reaction to so blunt a question.

"A bit, sir. I was twelve when the Fire Lord commenced his great plan." No one spoke of it as genocide, not in the Fire Nation. "So I didn't really understand just what was happening until recently." Oh, how true was that. Ironic really, how much he could say that was the truth, and still come across as perfectly loyal sounding to these army officers. He glanced down and to the side. "One of my best friends as a kid was an Air Nomad named Amihan. We were going to spend some time together after she finished her training visit to the Western Temple, but she never got the chance."

"That made you angry," was the only response he got. He took the cue to elaborate, but chose his words with even more care.

"I suppose, Captain, that you could say I was furious for a long time." Kuzon kept his eyes focused on the ground, as if he were ashamed of his actions. "I took out my pain at losing a friend on those around me and people I knew hadn't had a thing to do with the actual enforcement of Fire Lord Sozin's great plan, but…" another shrug, "I was just twelve, and my parents tried to talk sense into me, really they did, and it just never took."

"Until now."

"Well…" Kuzon rubbed at the back of his head, ruthlessly suppressing a jolt as he realized Aang had done that when he was embarrassed. "I went to see another friend from my childhood, sir." He glanced down again, keeping to his role as a reformed trouble-maker. "In the Earth Kingdom. And…" He swallowed, knowing it looked as if he were having trouble admitting to a fault, but in reality he was having to swallow the bile that wanted to rise in his throat at the lie he was about to tell. "Bumi started to blame me for what happened to our friends. And I told him that the Fire Nation was only trying to help the other nations advance and…well, it didn't end well, sir."

A snort from the captain. "You can't expect an Earth Kingdom peasant to understand the greatness of Fire Lord Sozin's vision. That's why we have to help the other nations forward into progress."

"Yes, sir." _You pompous idiot. _"I understand that now."

"Good." The captain's eyes softened just the slightest bit. "Go home, Kuzon. I'm sure your family will be glad to see you again."

"Thank you, sir," Kuzon said gratefully, and bowed in respect before he picked up his travel pack. Just as he was turning to go, he was grabbed from behind and spun around.

"You liar! How dare you!" Furious golden eyes bored into his own, and Kuzon reacted on instinct honed in far too many battles for someone of his age. He tightened his grip on his pack, instead of dropping it, and swung it with all his might into the face of the threat before him. As the man staggered back to avoid the full force of the pack, Kuzon shot a short, intense burst of fire at the man's feet, knocking him further off balance, and into the nearest wall of the office.

Blinking, Kuzon realized what exactly he'd done and sighed internally. He'd really been around Bumi too long. Though Fire had the reputation of attacking first and asking questions later too.

"Um, Captain…?" he asked, not sure if he should be apologizing to the Captain or demanding an explanation. Kuzon was saved having to figure it out by the army officer's furious glare at the young man's attacker.

"Idiot! I told you to stay at the station!"

"But Captain, he's lying to you! I knew he would, traitor that he is. I couldn't let you be taken in, sir!"

"I have had ENOUGH of your alarmist tendencies!! Show me proof, or leave my sight!"

"Captain, I told you, I have only what I have seen and heard-"

"And what I have heard so far is an idiot sensationalist peasant trying to impair the fresh start of a loyal Fire Nation citizen. You disgust me."

The man on the ground scrambled to his feet, blotchy with anger. He pointed a shaking finger at Kuzon. "He was friends with the Avatar! That boy that used to come here with the Earth Kingdom boy! He was the one. He'd almost gotten mastery by the time he was eleven! I heard them speak about it."

Kuzon's eyes widened in spite of his best efforts to control his reaction. The captain sighed and turned towards Kuzon. "Well, boy? You've heard what you were detained for. Care to refute his statement?"

Apparently his wide-eyed fear had been taken for astonishment. Good. Kuzon took a deep breath to steady himself and was just as surprised as anyone when a laugh escaped him.

_Go with it, Kuzon,_ he told himself, really letting the laughter out now. It was cathartic.

"Aang? You think Aang is…was…the Avatar?" Kuzon shook his head. "Aang was always running to tell someone every time something exciting happened to him. He wouldn't have been able to keep something like being the Avatar from me and his other friends. He'd have said _something,_ even if he didn't say it outright." Kuzon rolled his eyes. "As for Aang nearly being a master by eleven…I don't know what conversation of ours you overheard, but he was excited because he'd attained the next level in his training, not because he was almost at full mastery. Aang had been trying to perfect a move for the past month and he finally got it."

Kuzon bent to pick up his pack and he knocked dirt off of the straps and body. He swung the bag over his shoulder and bowed to the Captain again. "Sir, with your permission, may I return home now?"

"Go, Kuzon. Just don't start any more fights, understood?" The Captain's eyes glinted as he tapped a finger near the scar above his eye. Kuzon flushed.

"No, sir. I won't."

--

_I could wish some of my men sorted themselves out as quickly as that young man has,_ Yavuz thought, with an odd feeling of pride. He'd understood, as much as he was able, Kuzon's fury over the deaths of his Air Nomad friends. He had only been a boy, and to boys, great plans for the advancement of the world meant nothing next to the pain of losing a friend forever. That much anger and grief had needed an outlet; the young boy had just chosen a poor one. _And no matter how he tries to hide it, he still hurts over that. _

But he'd managed to control his rage and allowed common sense and reason to penetrate his thick skull. It was more than some men twice his age had been able to do.

"Captain Yavuz, I really must protest!"

A scowl descended on the older man's face and he shot a deadly glare at the idiot that had ruined his morning.

"Lieutenant, take him to the station and throw him in a cell. I find it very suspicious Amin knew exactly when Kuzon was going to dock with his ship, and his knowledge of Air Nomad practices is rather…worrisome." Amin paled and open and closed his mouth, not even able to dredge up a single word of protest. Being accused, even indirectly, of being a traitor, had not seemed to occur to him except in the abstract sense, and the reality robbed him of his ability to speak.

"Yes, sir!"

_Ah…_Yavuz thought, listening with satisfaction as Amin finally started voicing his protests. Loudly and interspersed with loud cries of "I was telling you the truth! Kuzon's the traitor, not me!" _One less malcontent on the streets stirring up trouble._

_--_

Kuzon paused at the lane that led to his house and took a few deep, steadying breaths.

_Okay. Hurdle one cleared. Captain Yavuz is on my side._ Golden eyes regarded the peaceful house before him. _Now, I just have to find a way to not lie to my father and mother about what I've been doing for the past two years and keep them safe at the same time._

"Yeah, sure, why not?" he muttered with some humor. "I'll just dig out my old plans for a fire-bending glider and make that functional while I'm at it, why don't I?"

Kuzon squared his shoulders, took another fortifying breath, and strode towards his house.

_I can do this. I'm not alone, not anymore._

One hand firmly clasping the White Lotus tile in his pocket, he called out a merry greeting.

"Father! Mom! I'm home, I'm back!"

--

A/N2: Now, just a technical world-building type note. The Avatar-verse has no official calendar as devised by its creators. This fact has annoyed my beta, Caelum Blue, and myself to no end since it messed with certain aspects of long term fics we're working on. Caelum got fed up with vague notions of time and seasons before I did, and went on a researching spree that gave us a working calendar, which has since been incorporated into our fics. The Avatar-verse calendar I'm utilizing is based off of the old Chinese calendar and a week is ten days. So, the week and a half Kuzon takes to get back home is fifteen days, not nine as it would be for a calendar based on a seven day week. All credit goes to Caelum for her hard work! You can find a link to the document explaining the calendar (and the calendar itself!) on my profile page.

Tell me what you guys think with that nifty review button, please!


	2. Reaping the Consequences

A/N: Yeah...I love this show, honestly, but the random plot holes authors run into on occassion rather effectively make me go pout in a corner for a few weeks before I get up the motivation to fix it so my story works. In this case...Aang's tattoos. He's got them on his arms, legs, head, back, etc. Basically, he got a full body tattoo upon mastering Airbending. You cannot tell me it was a pleasant process and it does not make very good sense for Aang to have recieved the tattoos, gone to visit Bumi, come back to the Temple, get told he's the Avatar, and THEN disappear into the storm and get frozen in the iceberg.

So, compromise. We know he's got at least the head and arm tattoos when he visits Bumi before disappearing. However, it's a full body tattoo. It's not a pleasant process (how could having someone stick needles full of dye into your skin repeatedly be a fun thing? *shivers* No thanks...) and likely Aang needed some time off between sessions to recover. He's _twelve,_ remember. So. The first round consists of head and arms, and he took his recovery time to visit his closest friend (geographically speaking) and then went back, got the second round of tattoos, got told who he was and had his freak out.

Plot hole fixed. You, my lovely readers, get two extra pages of the awesome craziness that is Bumi trying to be civil and I'm going to go distract myself with classwork now...Review and tell me what you guys think, please!

--

Bumi eagerly stood in the seat of the wagon, shielding his eyes from the rays of the setting sun with one hand. He'd been on the road with this trading caravan for nearly a month, and they were finally coming within site of Omashu.

Home.

It was a bit odd to think of Omashu as home, now. He hadn't been back to the city for over two years, and hadn't been very comfortable there for a long time before his departure. There had been too many painful memories of his lost friends, and too many people ready and willing to vilify the entire Fire Nation for the 'great vision' Sozin had imposed on his people.

Bumi hadn't reacted well to those people, and when they'd remembered Bumi used to have a Fire Nation boy visit him semi-regularly…well, hypocrite and sympathizer were some of the politer terms he'd been stuck with and the resulting scenes hadn't been pretty. And they had resulted in some very fierce arguments with Major Rohit.

Bumi's wide grin faded a bit as he recalled the burly major. Bumi had never gotten along with Major Rohit, even before the genocide of the Air Nomads. The captain's determined vilification of all Fire Nation citizens had ground on Bumi's already frayed nerves and much of the structural damage Omashu had suffered for nearly three years had been the results of their explosive arguments. Arguments that usually ended in Bumi being sent to cool his heels overnight in a prison cell, and a couple of times being forced to help clean up the damage he'd caused.

"I really hope he got transferred somewhere else…" Bumi muttered. He liked to think he could hold his temper better now than he had two years ago, but the young Earthbender still wasn't eager to try his luck.

"BUMI!!"

Bumi started and had to catch himself on the top edge of the protective covering of the wagon to stop himself from falling off the swaying vehicle. He turned wide and startled eyes in the direction of the shout, seeing the man in charge of the security of the trading caravan riding up to him, expression a perfect match for the surly ostrich-horse he sat upon.

"How many times have I told you to NOT stand up in a moving wagon?!? You're going to fall off, and you're just making a target of yourself for bandits!"

Bumi resisted the urge to roll his eyes. The only bandits they would have to worry about this close to Omashu were would-be punks from the middle-income areas of Omashu who thought it was fun to pretend to be marauding bandits. Or at least, they thought it was fun until they got caught, which might or might not be before they got pounded into the ground by overenthusiastic security guards.

"I'm not about to fall off. I have better balance than that." _I'm an Earthbender. I know how to center my weight so I stay where _I_ want to be. And I learned how to move with the wind from the _Avatar_. I'm not going to fall off a slow-moving wagon. _

A fleeting image of Aang's laughing face if he were to witness this scene crossed Bumi's mind, and the last of his good humor fled. He stomped down on the urge to give into despair, and slipped a hand unobtrusively into his pocket, fingering the White Lotus tile Master Chen had given him.

_There's hope. Kuzon and I aren't the only ones looking for the Avatar anymore. There's a whole _group_ of people who know and will pass the word to me if they find him before I do. I just have to wait. Neutral jin, remember, Bumi? Just wait._

Along with his practical earthbending training, Master Chen had also passed on the teachings of every jin he could cram into Bumi's head. But he had specifically focused on the jin most central to the Earthbending style. Neutral jin, waiting and watching for the correct moment, so that when you struck, you'd collapse the entire mountain with that one blow.

"I don't care if you're a freaking flamingo-stork. You're going to fall and I'm not going to bother myself with turning around to pick you back up."

"Well, it's a good thing we're so close to Omashu, then, isn't it?" Bumi chirped brightly. "I would have a hard time getting lost in the hills surrounding my own home!"

The security guard just sputtered and finally decided he had better things to do than monitor a crazy Earthbender. He rode off in a huff. Bumi pulled the White Lotus tile out of his pocket and traced the painted picture of the flower adorning its front. He just had to wait, and listen. News of the Avatar would spread quickly, once he was found. All Bumi had to do was practice waiting, and listening – the essence of neutral jin.

_But when I finally catch up to you, Aang, I'm going to pound you so hard into the ground you're going to be seeing ostrich-parakeets for a month!!_

Hey, no one had ever claimed that earthbenders didn't have tempers. And Aang had it coming to him, after all the worry he was putting his friends through.

--

Bumi, travel pack slung over his shoulder, waved cheerily at Madam Kun as her wagon rumbled past him through the gates of Omashu. "Good luck with your trading!" he called out. The middle-aged woman smiled at him and waved back, but didn't speak. She had already said her goodbyes to the young man she had allowed to share her wagon for the long journey to Omashu. Niceties taken care of, Bumi waited for the last of the caravan to pass him, before starting his own journey through the great gates of Omashu.

He had left Omashu on foot, nearly five years ago. It seemed right somehow, to return through those great stone gates the same way.

--

"Major Rohit, the trading caravan from Gaipan has arrived."

"Bout time." The burly army major grunted. "If they'd been any later, they'd have had to camp outside the city for the night." They never left the gates open past dusk anymore. No one thought the Fire Nation would come this far south anytime soon, but there was no sense in taking chances. Heaving a put-upon sigh, he levered himself out of his seat, stretching and cracking his knuckles. "Let's go inspect their wagons, so we can all go home."

"Yes, sir," Captain Rong said, sounding entirely too cheerful for the major's mood. It had been a long, trying day. First, they'd confiscated contraband goods one merchant train had attempted to smuggle into the city. _Then _they'd had to track down another gang of the middle class idiots that thought masquerading as bandits was a good way to pass their free time. That mess had lead to a long high decibel discussion with the parents of said idiots who had sworn up and down their precious children would never do such a thing, which had lead to a slightly lower decibel discussion with higher ranking officers who'd been called in to mediate the disturbance, which had lead to a rather…embarrassing conclusion involving community service and a pay cut. It had not been one of Major Rohit's better days.

"Don't know what you're so cheery about. Checking that caravan will take at least another hour and you know they're going to try to smuggle _something_ in. These caravans from the north always do."

"Perhaps this one will be different, sir."

"I doubt it." Rohit grumbled, but he led the way to the caravan waiting area. Captain Rong stifled a grin and followed.

--

Bumi calmly waited his turn behind the caravan and other travelers waiting to pass through the inner gates of Omashu. The chattering talk flitted by, most of it being of no interest to him. He was just happy to hear the chatter of honest city-folk again. The countryside were all well and good, but Bumi preferred the city.

"Honestly, Min! What were you thinking? Ten silver pieces for such poor quality cloth?"

"It'll only get worse, I'm telling you…"

"I swear, I saw one, flying right overhead last night!"

"During a new moon? Idiot, no one can see anything then."

"But Mama, I wanna go see the parrot-monkey. Please?"

"I told you, sweetling, we don't have enough money to see the circus. Maybe-"

"An Air Nomad! Plain as the nose on my face!"

Bumi swung around so fast he nearly fell flat on his face. Scanning the people around him, he spotted the speaker, still excitedly waving his arms around as he tried to convince his companion of his story. Bumi slid quietly closer.

"The Air Nomads are dead. Sozin slaughtered them all." The excited man's companion was obviously not buying it. The skepticism only fueled the other's enthusiasm.

"I'm positive I saw one! He even had those blue tattoos on his head and arms!"

Bumi's heart thumped an irregular pattern against his ribcage. Alternately speeding and halting, his heart was accurately reflecting his emotions. Even though Aang had only received half of his mastery tattoos the last time Bumi had seen him, he still remembered Aang's complaints. Vividly.

"_It HURTS!! I don't care what I told you about the mastery tattoos being an honor and a turning point. This sucks!"_

_Bumi snickered quietly, dancing out of reach of a half-hearted swipe at his head. Aang winced as even that much movement pulled at the still healing skin a round his new tattoos._

"_Well, you're the one that was all excited about it when you wrote me last week. Gonna take it back now?"_

"_YES!!"_

_Bumi snickered some more and Aang glared at him, gingerly probing the area around the arrow on his forehead. The Airbender nearly went cross-eyed trying to follow his own hand's motions. _

"_Hey, Bumi?"_

"_Yeah?"_

"_You are _so_ lucky earthbenders don't get full body tattoos upon mastery."_

_Bumi swallowed his snickers with difficulty and patted his friend sympathetically on the leg. He knew better than to touch Aang's shoulder or arm. That would just prompt a yelp and another round of complaints._

"_Look at it this way, buddy. You only got half of them right? So at least your back and legs don't hurt, too!"_

_Aang glared at him. "I get the rest of them when I go back in a week. I won't be able to walk straight for three days!!"_

_Bumi's fragile control over his snickers evaporated. He started laughing and couldn't stop. Aang huffed and glared at his friend, but a smile was starting to tug at the master Airbender's mouth. _

"_Oh, go ahead and laugh, smart guy. See if I let you tag along next time I go visit Kuzon."_

"_I'll have Amihan come pick me up." Bumi retorted instantly, grinning. Aang rolled his eyes and started to make a gesture with his hands, but stopped half-way through with a wince._

"…_I _hate_ these tattoos!!"_

"_I thought they were an honor and sign of mastery."_

"…_fine. I hate _getting_ the tattoos."_

That had been the last word he'd had from his friend. Aang hadn't answered any of the letters Bumi sent after that visit, and within a month of Aang's return to the Temple, Kuzon and Amihan had come to Omashu to pick him up on their way to the Southern Air Temple, in search of their quartet's oddly silent fourth member.

_Yeah, and that marked the last few weeks we had with Amihan…_Bumi recalled morosely, before shaking his head to clear the depressing thoughts from his mind. He needed to focus. If someone had really caught sight of Aang, or any Airbender, for that matter…

"Oh yeah? So where'd you see this Air Nomad then, genius?"

"Well…I was a little out of it at the time…but it was someplace that had a waterfall and there was a small mountain and some there was a really big white thing I'm positive was a _sky bison!"_

"You mean your back yard with the fountain, the compost heap and the statue of last Earth King and the elephant-poodle. The _very large, very white_ elephant-poodle?"

"Uh…no! I'm positive it was-"

"I knew you were drunk last night, but I didn't think you were _that _drunk."

"I wasn't drunk!"

"Uh-huh. Sure. Why does your wife put up with you again?"

"Hey!"

"You got drunk enough to mistake an _elephant-poodle_ for a _sky bison!_ I'm not sure why she just hasn't had the Guard arrest you for some imagined charge just to get rid of you."

Bumi clenched his fists tight against his sides, fighting the urge to strangle the idiot who'd mistaken one of the majestic sky bison for an eccentric house pet. There was no reason to pummel the idiot into the ground. Or open up a crevasse just big enough to drop the man in up to his chin and leave him there.

Really. There wasn't.

Bumi could feel the earth shaking slightly underneath his feet. He heard the startled exclamations from the nearest people and blew out a calming breath. It would be a bad idea to begin his new life in this city the same way he had ended the last one. At the very least, he needed to avoid causing so much commotion when he got upset.

Bumi clung to his Lotus tile, eyes scrunched closed, running it repeatedly through his fingers to ground himself in something that wasn't the desire to pound a drunken idiot into the bedrock. He slowly brought his emotions, and thus the rioting earth around him, back under control. He peeked one eye open, and grinned in relief. He'd done it.

The yell almost caused the shaking to start up again.

"YOU!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING BACK IN OMASHU!?!"

But it did serve to drop Bumi's spirits directly into that pit he'd been imagining earlier. For stomping toward him with anything but friendly intent was one very incensed Major Rohit.

"Oh, that's just not _fair!" _Bumi hissed under his breath.

--

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING BACK IN OMASHU!?!"

Captain Rong looked up from his inspection of a matronly woman's wagon, startled. He hadn't heard Major Rohit sound quite that enraged since the last time a young earthbender had knocked out a section of the wall, defending the reputation of the Fire Nation's common citizens. According to that young earthbender, it wasn't their fault their Fire Lord was an insane psychopath. But that particular earthbender had left over three years ago, why would Major Rohit…

Ah. Brown spiked hair, rather reminiscent of a boarqupine's spines. Green eyes holding a glint of madness held in check until the best moment to unleash it. And a barely concealed looked of annoyance and resentment as he watched Major Rohit approach.

_Well, well. Young Bumi's back in town._ Waving the woman onward – she'd come through with this caravan for nearly twenty years now, the inspection was more a formality than anything – Rong quickly made his way through the milling citizens and caravaners to try to head off the explosion he knew was coming.

The last argument between those two had been typical of disagreements between two strong-willed earthbenders. Which was to say damaging to the general architecture and any unwary civilians nearby. It was his duty as a loyal Guard of Omashu to head off such an argument at the city's main gate.

_Not to mention I want a closer look at that tile he's fiddling with, _Rong mused as he shooed curious onlookers on their way into the city with a frown and a firm suggestion that they'd find themselves camping outside the city on every subsequent trip to Omashu if they didn't leave, now. _If that's really the Lotus…I have to speak with him._

If it was the White Lotus tile…well, it was his duty as a fellow member of the Order to introduce himself to the newest inductee in Omashu, and make sure he made a smooth transition back into the rhythms of the city. And sit on him until he told how he'd come to be inducted in the first place, he was at least a decade too young. Rong himself was the youngest of the Order's members in Omashu and he was in his early thirties...

"I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU THOUGHT YOU WERE DOING, YOU'RE NOT GETTING IN MY CITY!!"

But first, it'd probably be a good idea to head off Major Rohit before they had a repeat of those infamous arguments.

--

Bumi stomped on his desire to yell back at Major Rohit – the man hadn't gotten any more agreeable in the three years Bumi had been gone – and flipped the Lotus tile over in his hand once again.

He'd found that was the only thing keeping his temper under control. The Lotus tile reminded him of the great honor and responsibility Master Chen had given him with the tile. Bumi was determined not to dishonor that commitment by embedding the man in charge of Omashu's security into the ground.

Well, that and Master Chen's words regarding exactly why it was such an honor for Bumi and Kuzon to be inducted into the Order at their age.

"_Hot heads are not welcome to such secrets."_

One deep breath, another flip of the tile, and he tried reason once again. "I admit my conduct was out of line, Major Rohit, but I've learned to control my temper. I'm not going to be starting fights anymore. And I never acted to undermine your authority – that was never my intention, anyway. I just wanted to defend my friend, who had lost just as much as I had with the genocide-"

"I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU THOUGHT YOU WERE DOING, YOU'RE NOT GETTING IN MY CITY!!"

_Okay…has he heard a word I've said? _Bumi wondered, starting to fume despite his best efforts. The Lotus was doing a full rotation almost every second, so furiously was he trying to hold onto his temper. Major Rohit's face was beet-onion red, and getting darker by the second. _Reason_ was fast flying out the window.

Looking back on that day many decades later, Bumi would wonder at his own obtuseness, in not spotting Captain Rong's _connections_ the moment he showed up.

That day, he was simply grateful someone with sense had arrived to take the brunt of the yelling off of him.

"Major Rohit? What's the problem here? I don't see anyone breaking any laws-"

"BREAKING LAWS!? BREAKING-" Major Rohit choked off his next words, and made an obvious effort to stop screaming, to the great relief of the citizens still waiting for the go-ahead to proceed into the city proper. "This!" The major's finger jabbed accusingly in Bumi's direction. "This…this _boy_ was the source of more structural damage in Omashu for five years than any of the other troublemakers combined!! How can you not remember _him?!?"_

Bumi promptly attempted to look innocent and incapable of graffiti, let alone actual structural damage. From the skeptical look the other man sent his way, it hadn't worked so well.

"Boy? He seems a young man to me…" A very disconcerting, _knowing_ gaze raked over Bumi, and he fought to remain still. The Lotus started to flip even faster. "Ah, yes. I see the resemblance now. But, respectfully, Major, I don't see a problem with letting him back into the city."

"You don't see a _problem_ with letting him-" Major Rohit's capacity for spoken language seemed to fail him for the first time since he had accosted Bumi. The young earthbender fought not to snicker at the sight. "Captain Rong, he blew a hole in the _protective walls_ of Omashu! How is that not a problem?"

"Well, sir. I can't defend his actions of three years ago. But I can speak to the wisdom gained from world travel, which it seems obvious Bumi has experienced for the past three years. His pack is rather worn and his clothes have definitely seen better days. There's dirt on almost every inch of him. And while I grant that is a common state for most earthbenders, this seems to stem more from prolonged travel than practice of his bending." Captain Rong turned a slightly amused glance Bumi's way and actually chuckled, causing both Major Rohit and Bumi to stare at him in disbelief. "If you'll forgive me, Major, he seems much improved from the young man who damaged the protective wall so much. He's obviously not any fonder of you than you are of him, but he hasn't so much as made the ground twitch in retaliation so far. And he's had more than enough provocation, by the standards he set three years ago."

Bumi's fiddling slowed, so much so that the White Lotus on his tile could be clearly seen, as he stared in complete astonishment at this unexpected ally.

_Why the heck is he helping me? Why does he even care?_

--

Rong stifled a smile as Bumi's frantic fiddling with the tile slowed enough for the symbol to become more than a white blur. He'd been right. The tile bore the emblem of the White Lotus.

Bumi was a member of the Order.

How it had happened, Rong didn't know. But he did know only Masters and above could approve entrance into the ranks of the Order, so someone with experience thought Bumi could be trusted. It was enough for now. And it might be essential to have Bumi in Omashu, since he _had _been inducted at least a decade earlier than any other member.

"What makes you so certain you're right about him, Captain?"

Ah. Right. Major Rohit still had to be convinced. Well, when all else fails, give them something they can't argue with.

"Call it a hunch, Major Rohit. I just feel he's no longer a danger to our city."

From the narrowing of his superior officer's eyes, Rohit was still considering arguing with that line of reasoning.

_I gave him facts he can see for himself to support my opinion, if he'll look beyond his dislike for the young man. _For Bumi _was_ a young man now. There could be no doubt. His eyes held a hard-won wisdom that no mere boy could ever have._ And I gave him my personal feelings, without the reasoning, true. But I can do no more. He'll agree or he won't._

"Fine." Major Rohit grumbled finally, and an incredulous smile spread on Bumi's face. Rong shot a warning glance the young man's way. This could still go wrong. Bumi promptly bit down on his lower lip, trying to erase the smile that still threatened. "If you're so convinced, Captain Rong, _you _get to be responsible for him. Any trouble he gets into, _you _get to take responsibility for. Understood?"

_Oh great Hu-Tu…you had better be the responsible young man I just told the Major you are, Bumi, or I'm going to drop you off the nearest _cliff.

--

Incensed major dealt with and gone, entrance into the city gained, and temper held in check – evidence by the unbroken ground around him. There was just one thing marring the perfection of his reentrance to Omashu.

Captain Rong was still _staring _at him, with that _annoying_ I-know-what-you-did stare that Bumi had been _sure _was something only Master Chen could pull off so well. Bumi shifted on his feet, nervous.

"Um…Captain Rong? Could I go into the city now? I've been on the road for a _long_ time and I'd really like to go collapse in my own bed…"

The stare disappeared. Bumi breathed a sigh of relief.

"Certainly. I'll escort you in. I'd like to avoid any more reenactments of Major Rohit's reaction to your renewed presence in Omashu."

_Smug, overconfident, know-it-all Army Captain…_Bumi snarled silently, unable to come up with a retort to that painfully accurate statement. He had ticked off more army officers than Major Rohit. A lot more. _It's not fair to let people think the _entire _Fire Nation wanted the Air Nomads dead. Kuzon lost friends too!_

"By the way, young man," Captain Rong said genially as they passed the gate into the city proper. "I saw your tile. Do you play Pai Sho very often?"

"Um…not really. It's more sentimental than anything serious…" Bumi stammered, hastily shoving the Lotus tile back into a pocket. _Crap! Does he know what the tile means?_

"Ah, I see. A gift from a friend, I assume? Shame, I enjoy the game myself. It'd have been nice to find a new player to challenge. I don't meet many people who favor the Lotus gambit in Omashu."

Bumi was effectively robbed of the capacity for speech for the majority of the trek to his family's home in the center of the city. He studied the army captain with narrowed eyes, but could find nothing about the man that might indicate he was a member of the Lotus too. But Master Chen…hadn't he said something about allies?

"_You will find allies no matter where you go."_

That was it. That was what he had said. So, if he thought Captain Rong was one of those allies, how to best find out without betraying _he _was a member if Rong _wasn't _one?

The problem was solved for him as Captain Rong turned aside to let Bumi walk the final blocks to his home himself, waving goodbye casually, just a flash of a Pai Sho tile showing in his cupped hand before it vanished back up Rong's sleeve.

Bumi grinned. Well. Not back an hour yet and he had his first ally within the Order.

_Beat that, Kuzon._

--

Great ice flows drifting slowly along the cold ocean current of the South Pole. Polar bears and otter-seals avoiding and seeking each other out in the dance of survival necessary in such a harsh climate. Water Tribesmen hunting both and the great whales for their own sustenance, passing traditions and rites of passage from one generation to the next.

The towering icebergs that formed the landscape for this ancient dance were ever changing. No one noticed one more iceberg drift in, to be pulled along in the deadly dance. No one noticed the shadowy forms contained within.

And while they passed unnoticed, the world descended into chaos and war.


End file.
